


Sleigh Bells

by moonrise31



Series: once, twice, and again until it's over [16]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, happy holidays, the best thing i ever did was watch hyochaeng's backhug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 14:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17143538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonrise31/pseuds/moonrise31
Summary: In which Jihyo and Chaeyoung run a ski lodge, and book some mysterious guests over the holidays.





	Sleigh Bells

When Chaeyoung stepped into the reception area of their lodge, she almost tripped over Jihyo scrubbing furiously at the carpet.

Chaeyoung blinked. It wasn’t rare for her to wake up to an empty bed, since the older woman was much more of a morning person than any human had any right to be. But usually Jihyo spent the early hours warming slowly into the day, sitting at the front desk chatting with Momo over hot drinks until their guests began to emerge from their respective rooms.

Today, though, Momo was alone, nursing her cup of hot chocolate while Jihyo’s coffee sat abandoned next to the check-in computer. Because Chaeyoung’s girlfriend was still way too busy scrubbing at the carpet. 

Momo gave Chaeyoung a shrug when the latter glanced at her. “She said something about Nayeon coming over later.”

Chaeyoung laughed, then, and crouched so that she was eye-level with Jihyo. “Why are you freaking out so much about Nayeon-unnie? She’s been here before.”

“I’m not ‘freaking out’,” Jihyo huffed, sitting back on her heels as she straightened her back. She threw her rag down and placed both hands on her hips, arching until a satisfying pop sounded. “I just thought it was about time we got that stain out of the carpet.”

“I kept saying we should just replace all of the carpet anyway,” Chaeyoung reminded her. “You told me not to worry about it.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Jihyo pointed at the admittedly spotless area. “Because the stain’s gone now.”

“Nayeon-unnie isn’t that picky about being clean,” Momo said. She leaned back in her office chair and began to spin around lazily. “Last time she came, she kept tracking snow in even though you always yelled at her to wipe her boots off at the door.”

Jihyo crossed her arms. “She did that on purpose, to annoy me. And it worked. Which is why this entire place has to be spotless, or she’ll use it against me later for why it shouldn’t matter whether she tracks snow in or not.”

Chaeyoung clicked her tongue as she threw an arm around Jihyo’s shoulders. “It just sounds like you lose either way, unnie.”

Momo propped her feet against the edge of the desk and pushed, launching her chair towards the window so she could peek through the frost-covered glass. “And your time’s up in about ten seconds.” She spun back around just as someone stepped up behind Chaeyoung. “Oh, hey Tzuyu!”

Tzuyu offered a single nod. Then the front door flung open.

“Park Jihyo.” Nayeon threw her arms out, almost whacking Momo’s foot as the latter tried to kick the door closed without getting up from her chair. “I have arrived.”

“We can see that,” Jihyo said plainly. But she still rushed into the hug. “It’s good to see you, unnie.”

“And look, no snow!” Nayeon lifted her feet up proudly. “I can’t promise anything after tonight though, with the blizzard coming in.” 

“We’re glad you got in before the storm,” Momo said. And happily hopped up to accept her hug from Nayeon, too.

“That’s Im Nayeon,” Chaeyoung explained to Tzuyu, who was still silently standing next to her on the opposite side of the room. “She’s Jihyo’s childhood friend. Does something for work down in the city -- it changes every year so I don’t try to keep up anymore. But she visits us every year for a week or so during the holidays.”

Tzuyu blinked. “I see.”

“Breakfast is in the usual room,” Chaeyoung continued cheerfully.

Tzuyu flashed her a brief smile. “Thanks.” And then walked around the reception desk, brushing past Nayeon without a word.

Nayeon narrowed her eyes at the retreating figure. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the ski mountain today.”

“Tzuyu is just like that,” Jihyo said. “She’ll warm up to you eventually.” She paused. “Maybe. I mean, it could happen, statistically speaking.”

Nayeon nodded slowly. “Right.”

“Good morning.” 

Chaeyoung stepped aside to let another guest into the reception area. “Morning, Mina.”

Mina greeted Jihyo and Momo, and offered a polite smile at Nayeon before entering the room where breakfast was being served. Nayeon placed a hand over her heart. “Was it just me, or did I hear birdsong when she smiled?”

“Mina has that effect,” Momo agreed. “She’s been here since November, but I don’t think she’s going to be checking out until March or April.”

Nayeon raised her eyebrows. “She’s staying that long?”

“We’ve placed bets on what she’s doing here,” Jihyo said. “She’s probably just one of those novelists on a personal retreat, isolating herself out here until she’s finished her next bestseller.”

“Or,” said Chaeyoung, “she’s one of the last surviving ninjas on this planet, and is currently undergoing harsh training on the unforgiving slopes of this very mountain.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes. “For the last time, Chaeng, you can’t say that just because she’s Japanese. Momo’s Japanese, too.”

“Yeah!” Momo chimed in.

Chaeyoung crossed her arms. “I never said Momo _wasn’t_ a ninja. Maybe this job is just her cover.”

“Yeah!” Momo said again, and then paused. “I’m not, though.”

Chaeyoung pointed at her. “But isn’t that exactly what a ninja would say?”

Momo’s eyes widened. “You’re right.”

Jihyo chuckled as she grabbed Nayeon’s hand. “Anyway, unnie, I’ll show you to your room.” 

“Glad to see this place hasn’t really changed since I last came here,” Nayeon commented as she followed Jihyo further into the lodge, first making sure to pull Chaeyoung in for her long-awaited hug. “Honestly, hosting a Netflix show is great, but it can just get so tiring sometimes, you know?”

Momo waited until the two of them had walked out of earshot before stepping up beside Chaeyoung and leaning close. “Please don’t tell her that I only watch Hulu.”

-

“Hey.” Jihyo slid a steaming bowl in front of Chaeyoung before leaning back against the desk. “Everything all good here?”

“Yeah.” Chaeyoung sat back in the chair, closing her window of Solitaire she’d had up on the computer before grabbing the chopsticks Jihyo offered her. “Thanks for dinner.”

“Thank Nayeon, not me,” said Jihyo. She laughed as Chaeyoung froze. “It should taste okay. I watched her this time, and she held the knife right side up and everything.”

“Just checking.” Chaeyoung scooped some rice into her mouth. “That storm is really picking up, though. I’m glad all the guests made it back before it hit.”

Jihyo hummed, turning to look out the window. Sheets of snow howled across the mountain slope, occasionally rattling against the glass. “I told Momo she should stay in instead of checking on the equipment. If she’s not back in five minutes --”

The door slammed open, and a crowd of people tumbled in. Momo was the last one across the threshold, face barely visible underneath her hat and scarf as she threw her back against the door to shut it. Then she tugged her scarf down so it no longer covered her mouth. “So I think we’re going to have some new guests.”

“Of course.” Jihyo pushed herself off the desk. “Chaeyoung can check you in, and dinner’s still warm for when you’re done.” She held her hand out over the counter when the first woman stepped up. “I’m Park Jihyo.”

“Minatozaki Sana,” the other said cheerfully as they shook hands. “It’s a bit cold out tonight, isn’t it?”

“ ‘Cold’? My ears are freezing, unnie,” the woman with a striped beanie popped out from behind Sana. Then she grinned, the end of her hat flopping slightly as she also shook Jihyo’s, and then Chaeyoung’s hand. “Kim Dahyun.”

“Yoo Jeongyeon,” the last woman sniffed, nose somehow reddening further as she did so.

“I’ll set you up in separate rooms,” Chaeyoung told them as she typed their information into the computer. “What brings you to the mountain at this time, anyway? And with the blizzard going on, too.”

Jeongyeon rolled her eyes. “That’s what _I_ said. Why keep going if we know there’s going to be a storm?” She jerked her thumb at Sana. “But she insisted.”

“I can always take over some of the driving,” Sana said with a pout. “But you never let me.”

“Because you can’t even navigate from one side of a room to the other.” Jeongyeon crossed her arms. “I’d rather just drive the entire time than deal with the stress.”

“You have a pretty big truck. Are you guys doing delivery?” Momo asked as she pulled a hoodie over her head. Jihyo winced at all of her icy clothing, now tossed into a pile that was steadily thawing behind Chaeyoung’s chair, but said nothing.

“Yup,” Sana chirped. “I’m on a tight schedule, unfortunately, but I suppose waiting a night for the storm can’t be helped.”

Dahyun sighed through her nose. “The one time I decide to take a nap after I finished packaging everything, you just happened to pack me into the truck too, and now the trip is going to take even longer than usual?”

“Sorry, Dahyunnie.” Sana reached out and pinched the other’s cheeks. “You’re just so small and cute that I didn’t notice.”

Dahyun glanced over at Chaeyoung, and the two of them blinked in solidarity.

“You can stay as long as you like,” Jihyo offered. “That storm won’t be going away anytime soon, and it’d be suicide to try and go out until it’s over.”

After a flurry of thank yous and tired shuffling, the reception area fell quiet once more. 

“You two can turn in for the night,” Momo said. “I’ll finish desk duty.”

“Alright.” Jihyo grabbed Chaeyoung’s unfinished dinner. “We’ll clean up after the guests are finished eating, then. And I’ll get you another mug of hot chocolate.”

Momo praised the heavens in Jihyo’s name, and Chaeyoung accordingly kicked the back of her chair before following Jihyo into the kitchen. 

“Do you want hot chocolate too?” Jihyo asked as she set the kettle on the stove. 

Chaeyoung slipped into a chair at the small kitchen table, picking up her chopsticks again. “Why don’t you ever ask me if I want coffee?” She said through another mouthful of rice.

Jihyo turned, raising her eyebrows. “You’ve finally grown out of hot chocolate?”

“I didn’t say that,” Chaeyoung huffed. And then paused. “Okay, point taken.”

Jihyo laughed, walking behind Chaeyoung’s chair and wrapping her arms comfortably around the other woman’s shoulders. “You’re still cool, I guess.”

“The coolest,” Chaeyoung agreed. “Also, you’re going to put marshmallows in mine, right?”

Jihyo hummed, resting her chin on the top of Chaeyoung’s head. “I’ll put in exactly nine.”

“That’s too much.” Chaeyoung couldn’t really look up, but she reached out and poked at about where she thought Jihyo’s cheek should be. “You already forgot?”

“I didn’t forget,” Jihyo said. “You like five because that’s the perfect ratio of marshmallow to chocolate for your favorite mug. But Momo’s going to get jealous if she doesn’t get marshmallows in hers, too, so I thought I’d let you be the charitable one and share your extras with her.”

Chaeyoung did some quick mental math. “But she still comes out with one less.”

Jihyo laughed, her chin pressing pleasantly into Chaeyoung’s hair. “Well, I’m allowed to show _some_ favoritism, right?”

Then Chaeyoung giggled too, finally twisting around in her chair so that she could give the kiss Jihyo was already waiting for.

-

“Are you crazy?”

“Look.” Sana raised her hands, but it did little to calm Jihyo down. “You and Chaeyoung have done more than enough for us. And we really do have to go -- staying another night here would put us too behind schedule.”

Chaeyoung looped her arm around one of Jihyo’s, physically pulling the older woman back a step as she also tried to reason with Sana. “It really can’t be helped, though. The storm’s still going strong. If you guys weren’t able to make it through last night, you still won’t be able to now.”

“We can do it,” Jeongyeon said firmly. “I’ll be able to get us through, no problem. Our original issue was that the truck broke down, so as soon as we’ve fixed it, we’ll be good to go.”

Chaeyoung frowned. “Your nose is still red. Are you sure you don’t want that cold medicine? We have a lot of it, since Nayeon-unnie always gets sick about five minutes after she gets here.”

Jeongyeon sniffed even as she offered a smile. “I’m fine, but thank you.”

Jihyo crossed her arms. “Even if I did let you go, how are you going to fix anything in this weather?”

“Cross our fingers and hope for the best?” Dahyun suggested, beanie already pulled down tightly over her ears.

“That’s stupid,” said Momo, tugging on her mittens. “If we can push your truck into the storage shed, then you can at least look at it out of the storm.”

Jihyo rounded on the other woman. “That’s _still_ stupid. You can’t expect to push an entire truck, especially through all of the snow.”

Momo paused. “You’re right. I guess we’ll just have to take a look at it in the storm, then.”

Jihyo threw her hands up. “ _Not_ what I was saying.”

“Good evening.”

Chaeyoung turned. “Evening, Mina.”

Mina took in the small crowd that had assembled in the reception area. “Is something going on?”

“Mina!” Sana was over at the other’s side in an instant. “I know we just met this morning, but we had a really nice bonding moment about childhood cartoons over breakfast and I can already tell you’re a reasonable person. So please tell Jihyo that she needs to let us go out into that storm so we can fix my truck and finish all of our deliveries?”

Mina blinked. “The storm is the problem?”

“The first of many,” Jeongyeon answered. “But yeah, that would be the start.”

Mina glanced towards the window. “It seems to have stopped, though?”

The others whipped around to look. The evening sky was still a dark, foreboding gray, but the winds had died down, and the only snowflakes in sight already blanketed the ground in a fluffy white layer that probably came up to Chaeyoung’s knees.

“How convenient,” Dahyun said brightly. 

“Alright then.” Momo zipped up her coat. “Shall we?”

Tzuyu stepped into the reception area just as the door slammed shut. “They’re going out to fix the truck,” Chaeyoung explained.

Tzuyu nodded. And then stilled. “They’re going to have a hard time.”

“I know,” Jihyo grumbled. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“Are you going?” Chaeyoung asked as Tzuyu walked towards the door.

“Yes,” said Tzuyu, one hand already on the doorknob. 

Jihyo sighed. “You’ll need a hat, at least.” She reached under the desk and grabbed one of Momo’s. She tossed it to Chaeyoung, who came around the counter so she could reach up on her tiptoes and pull the hat down on Tzuyu’s head.

Tzuyu smiled. “Thank you.”

Jihyo glanced at Chaeyoung once the door had swung shut once more. “You want to go out too, don’t you.”

Chaeyoung put on a winning grin. “They’re going to be leaving after they fix the truck. As their hosts, it’s only right that we send them off once they’re ready, don’t you think?”

Jihyo rolled her eyes, and then reached over to give Chaeyoung’s dimple a hard poke. “Wear your snow pants, or you’re going to get snow in your boots.”

A few minutes later, the couple had waded their way through the snow to the truck, which Jeongyeon had impressively managed to park right outside the storage shed the night before. Tzuyu had arrived just ahead of them, and Jeongyeon was explaining the situation. “It’s almost good to go, but the windshield still won’t defrost.”

Tzuyu brushed past her, towards the front of the truck. 

Jeongyeon took a step back, mouth half-open to say something, but eyes squinting because she didn’t know quite what to say. Momo put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay -- she just does that.”

“Fixed.” Tzuyu turned away from the truck and began walking back towards the lodge. 

Dahyun stared after her. “But all she did...was...breathe?”

“Oh, but look!” Sana started jumping up and down, pointing. “The windshield’s clear now!”

Jeongyeon clapped her mittened hands together. “Let’s go, then.”

Jihyo narrowed her eyes at the uninterrupted expanse of white surrounding them. “So you’re really going to try and drive through all of this?”

“We have good snow tires,” said Jeongyeon before she hopped into the truck cab.

Sana pulled Jihyo and Chaeyoung into a hug. “Thanks for everything, you two!” She stepped back, beaming. “Trust me when I say you helped a lot of people today.”

Chaeyoung blinked. “We really didn’t do anything.”

“Being here is something,” Momo suggested.

“Exactly!” said Sana, before she pulled Momo into a hug too. Then she gave them all one last wave before jumping into the passenger seat. “Thanks again!”

The three watched as, against all odds, Jeongyeon started the truck and backed slowly but surely out of the snow-covered drive. Soon, the vehicle was only a small speck in the distance, continuing its journey down the mountain slope.

“We need a truck like theirs,” Momo mused once they’d gone back inside, warming themselves up in the kitchen as Nayeon prepared hot chocolate and coffee.

“I didn’t see any logo on it, strangely enough,” Jihyo commented. “Do you think it was imported?”

Nayeon snorted as she set a steaming mug in front of her childhood friend. “Really? You guys haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Figured what out?” Chaeyoung asked, glancing down at her mug as Nayeon placed it in front of her. She counted five marshmallows before looking up to meet Jihyo’s gaze. Jihyo winked, and Chaeyoung gave her a thumbs-up.

“I can’t believe you haven’t caught on yet.” Nayeon sighed, setting another mug of hot chocolate in front of Momo -- five marshmallows too, this time -- before she slid into the last chair, coffee in hand. “Okay, let’s start with the obvious thing.” She gestured to one corner of the kitchen. “First of all, who left those presents under the Christmas tree?”

Jihyo blinked. “I thought that was Chaeng.”

Chaeyoung shook her head. “I thought it was _you_.”

“It definitely wasn’t me,” said Momo.

Jihyo frowned. “I don’t remember them being here at all before, actually.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes. “Alright, now it’s just a little sad. You guys really don’t get it? Sana, an incredibly happy -- or dare I say, _jolly_ \-- person who has a tight delivery schedule around the holidays that apparently involves an entire truckload of festively wrapped packages? Or Dahyun, the small and cute being who never took off her hat and in fact made sure it always covered at least the tops of her ears?” 

The others stared at her.

Nayeon groaned. “And what about Jeongyeon? Her nose was always red, she’s really great at navigating, she drives Sana’s truck, and also threatened to run me over this morning because I almost took her coffee?”

“She was a lot better after,” Chaeyoung finally offered. “Sana told us she’s a real bull before her first cup.”

Nayeon’s mouth opened, and then closed again. She sighed. “Okay, how about your guests? Tzuyu, who always has pretty icy patterns on the windows of her room that never seem to go away? Her just _magically_ defrosting Sana’s truck windshield? Or how about just her general _frosty_ demeanor?”

“Unnie,” said Jihyo kindly, “maybe you shouldn’t have caffeine so late at night. I doubt it goes well with cough syrup, either.”

“ _Or_ ,” Nayeon stood up and slapped both of her palms against the table, “Myoui Mina. Have any of you actually talked to her about why she’s here?”

“We have a bet--” Chaeyoung started.

“She’s here,” Nayeon interrupted, “because there’s some guy in the city who thinks they’re going out now, since she went over to his place as part of a work gathering and ate some pomegranates there out of obligation. But somehow she struck a deal with him where he’d leave her alone for half the year, and she came here to get as far away from him as possible.”

Momo’s brow furrowed. “That just sounds kind of crazy.”

Nayeon sighed. “It might be, since it’s a _Greek myth_.” She threw her hands up at the three blank looks around the table. “Persephone. Mina is Persephone. Goddess of green things? In other words, _spring_? She literally made a blizzard stop in front of you and you still don’t get it?”

“Okay,” Jihyo said slowly. “So if Mina is Persephone --”

Nayeon nodded.

“-- and Tzuyu is Jack Frost,” Jihyo continued.

“Now you’re catching on,” Nayeon said, nodding again. 

Jihyo grinned. “Then does that make you Bigfoot?”

Nayeon gaped. “ _First of all_ \--” 

“We have to go.” Jihyo hopped up, grabbing Chaeyoung’s hand before ducking out of the kitchen. “Good night, unnie, and good luck, Momo!”

The two of them raced down the hallway, gasping for breath in between giggles. Somewhere in the background, Nayeon was still screaming over Momo’s attempted peace offerings of marshmallows for her coffee, but their words were already fading into the quiet of the building. Finally, Jihyo pulled open the door to their room, spinning around quickly to shut it behind them.

Chaeyoung’s hand slipped from Jihyo’s to wrap around her waist instead, and Chaeyoung’s head nestled comfortably against her shoulder. She felt the strands of hair by her ear flutter from the younger woman’s residual chuckles -- and maybe her heart fluttered then, too.

“Hey, unnie,” Chaeyoung said softly from behind her, “did you know that you’re Elsa?”

“Oh?” Jihyo hummed. “Why’s that?”

“I bet the entire mountainside would try to make itself into a palace for you if you sang loud enough,” Chaeyoung murmured.

“Yeah?” Jihyo grinned. “Then you’d be,” she pretended to think, “Olaf.”

“Hey!” Chaeyoung yelled, stepping away and pummeling the other’s back. But Jihyo just laughed, braving Chaeyoung’s fists to turn around and pull the other woman closer.

Jihyo leaned in. “I don’t need you to be anything but _you _, you know.”__

__Chaeyoung grinned. “Cheesy.” And thought to herself that if Jihyo were to face down a snowstorm with the exact same warmth in her eyes that she was giving Chaeyoung, even the most perilous blizzard wouldn’t stand a chance._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to hyochaeng and those who celebrate it in some way, shape, or form!


End file.
